Who killed the famous admiral Cheng Biguang? Why was Cheng Biguang stabbed?

On February 12, 1912, Empress Dowager Longyu of the Qing Dynasty promulgated the Edict of Abdication under his auspices, and Emperor Puyi abdicated three years after succeeding to the throne. Xuantong Emperor was the last emperor in the history of the Qing Dynasty, and his abdication marked the demise of the Qing Dynasty, and the demise of the Qing Dynasty represented the end of China's feudal monarchy that ruled China for more than two thousand years.

The fall of the Qing Dynasty and the end of the feudal dynasty did not mean the advent of the Bright Age at the time of invasion by the nations. After the fall of the Qing Dynasty, a period of political turmoil followed. The provisional government of the Republic of China, which was temporarily established, was controlled by various forces and the political situation was very complicated. Therefore, in the initial period, the Republic of China was filled with contradictions and struggles. The famous naval general Cheng Biguang in the late Qing Dynasty and the early Ming Dynasty introduced to you in this article is actually a victim of the political infighting at that time.

Cheng Biguang, born in 1861 AD, died in 1918 AD, character Hengqi, No. Yutang, Guangdong Zhongshan County, Nanbian District, Tianbian Village, parents are ordinary farmers born. Because his father died very early, Cheng Biguang, who could not make a living, defected to his brother-in-law who was a mariner at the age of eleven, so he came into contact with HNA.

Cheng Biguang was later admitted to the Fuzhou Ship Administration School, and after graduation, he remained in the Navy, first as a Guangdong Marine Division, and later merged into the Beiyang Marine Division, participating in the Sino-Japanese War. When the Sino-Japanese War was lost, he submitted a letter of surrender to the Japanese Navy, and was dismissed from his post. With the help of Li Hongzhang, it was later reactivated.

After the fall of the Qing Dynasty and the establishment of the Republic of China government, Cheng Biguang first worked in the Beiyang government under Yuan Shikai. After Yuan Shikai's death, Li Yuanhong succeeded him as president, but was later involved in the dispute between Li Yuanhong and Duan Qirui because of his support for Li Yuanhong, so he was politically attacked.

After Sun Yat-sen launched the Dharma Protection Movement, Cheng Biguang was persuaded to defect from the Beiyang government and lead the fleet south to Guangzhou to support the Protector of the Fa, becoming the famous "Protector of the Fa Fleet", after which he served in the military government and was later assassinated in Guangzhou.

In the early years of the Republic of China, the political contradictions were very sharp, and many government officials, even those who had great appeal in the revolutionary movement, were assassinated and killed, and Cheng Biguang was just one of them. Cheng Biguang's assassination case, like many assassinations, only traced the person who assassinated him and some superficial forces, and the real mastermind behind the scenes is still an unsolved mystery to this day. As for who killed Cheng Biguang, there are many speculations in later generations.

The first theory is that Duan Qirui led the assassination of Cheng Biguang, which stems from the contradiction between Cheng Biguang and Duan Qirui. The contradiction between Cheng Duan and Duan Originated from Li Yuanhong, and stemmed from the dispute between Li Yuanhong and Duan Qirui.

In 1916, Yuan Shikai died, Li Yuanhong succeeded him as president, and Duan Qirui became the premier. Li Yuanhong was a subordinate of Cheng Biguang when he served as a marine division in his early years, and with his full support, Cheng Biguang served as the chief of the government navy. Duan Qirui was ambitious and had long been eyeing the power of the government, and as time went on, the dispute between the Li Yuanhong faction and the Duan Qirui faction became more and more fierce. Later, Duan Qirui successfully forced Li Yuanhong to take control of the government power, and the situation of Cheng Biguang, as a supporter of Li Yuanhong, can be imagined.

Cheng Biguang, under the persuasion of Sun Yat-sen, betrayed the Beiyang government and "coerced" the navy all the way south, participated in the Dharma Protection Movement, and joined the ranks of the military government. Duan Qirui hated Cheng Biguang for betraying the government and took the navy with him to turn the military government around, so he had Cheng Biguang assassinated.

The second theory is that the Gui warlords did not want to see the navy become a military force that Sun Yat-sen could rely on, so they decided to assassinate Cheng Biguang.

The third theory refers to what the revolutionary Zhu Zhixin did, because the revolutionaries felt that Cheng Biguang "first snuggled between Sun Yat-sen and the Gui clan, and later leaned more toward the Gui clan" and "did not hug the pipa, turned his eyes to Mo Rongxin". So in order to deal with the traitors, Zhu Zhixin and others launched the assassination without Sun Yat-sen's knowledge. Cheng Biguang's death can be regarded as a kind of assassination.

Today's historians, based on relevant historical materials and the mystery of Cheng Biguang's assassination, believe that the most likely scenario is the third.

In fact, three days before Cheng Biguang was assassinated, he received three threatening letters in a row, the main purpose of which was to blame Cheng Biguang for the removal of Zhou Gan, director of the Guangdong Naval Torpedo Bureau. One of the letters even reads: "Reply within 24 hours, otherwise extreme measures will be taken to deal with it". At least in this way, zhou gan's removal was the fuse and direct cause of the assassination.